Canon Legria HF G10 camcorder : Canon launches the Legria HF G10, offering professional image quality in a compact, consumer-friendly camcorder. With a stand-out combination of professional features, full manual control, and creative tools to make shooting incredible video even easier, offering serious video enthusiasts a high-performance, affordable option to explore the boundaries of their creativity. The Canon Legria HF G10 is the first model from a new Legria HF G-series, and features a premium HD Camera System comprising many of the same technologies used in Canon’s professional range. Designed to offer greater flexibility for advanced users, the new Canon camcorder combines a wide-angle HD video lens with powerful image stabilisation.

Canon Legria G10 camcorder
The Canon Legria HF G10 incorporates features like Cinema-Look Filters, to create professional-looking movies. Audio quality has also been significantly enhanced, with an improved internal microphone and external connectivity for other audio accessories. At the heart of the Canon Legria HF G10 is Canon’s HD CMOS Pro sensor, also found in the XF and new XA-series from Canon’s professional range. The HD CMOS Pro sensor offers a 160% increase of the light sensing area compared to most CMOS sensors, resulting in greater light gathering ability for outstanding low-light performance and wider dynamic range. This allows users to retain more detail in shadows and prevent highlights from appearing blown out when shooting in high-contrast conditions. The sensor has also been optimised for Full HD video, recording pin-sharp AVCHD footage at 24Mbps.

Canon G10 camcorder with image stabilisation
A new 30.4mm wide-angle Genuine Canon HD Video lens also helps achieve superior quality results. A unique design provides both a wide-angle and more compact size, with a maximum aperture of f/1.8. A redesigned optical path includes an increased number of elements and two aspherical lenses for fast, accurate performance, whilst Canon’s acclaimed Optical Image Stabilizer (OIS) technology provides distortion-free images throughout the range of the 10x optical zoom.

Canon Legria HFG10 camcorder
Additional image stabilisation is available in the form of Dynamic and Powered optical Image Stabilizers to ensure the video is shake-free. Dynamic IS provides smooth images when filming whilst moving, while Powered IS allows users to shoot without a tripod when trying to capture a distant, stationary subject at the furthest extent of the zoom. For more natural background blur when using a shallow depth of field, the lens also features an eight-blade iris diaphragm, for an almost circular ‘bokeh’ effect.

Canon Legria G10 camcorder filters
Users can select one of eight pre-loaded Cinema-Look Filters, to add drama, convey feeling or create a stylised effect in-camera. For example, Old Movie gives footage an aged effect consistent with older cinema reels, whilst Vivid accentuates primary colours for a cheerful, bright impact. Once the filter has been selected, it can be further refined on-screen according to Key, Colour Depth, Contrast and Soft focus, allowing the user to perform sophisticated grading effects using only the camera. Once shot, it is easy to add simple titles to movies or create green screen effects thanks to the new Touch Decoration feature. Using the supplied stylus, text can be added and still images mixed with video clips on the large LCD. Story Creator has also been included with the Canon Legria HF G10, guiding users in planning, capturing and sharing compelling stories with video, without any external post-production required.

Canon WM-V1 wireless microphone
An improved internal microphone reduces mid and low-frequency background noise, picking out even softer sounds with crystal-clear audio. Furthermore, an audio equaliser optimises the sound according to the type of soundtrack, for example, when shooting a scene with live music or individual voices. When in Zoom Mic mode, the microphone directionality is automatically adjusted for subjects in front of the camcorder to ensure improved sound quality when zooming. Compatibility with a new WM-V1 wireless microphone also provides additional flexibility, enabling the voices of subjects up to 50m from the camcorder to be captured without any loss of quality. The wireless microphone can also be used as a transceiver, allowing camcorder operators to position their subject conveniently before filming.

Canon Legria HFG10 camcorder features
A lens focus ring provides close control over focus during shooting, while a customisable control dial can be assigned to manually adjust critical functions, including aperture, shutter speed and gain. Two assignable buttons beside the 8.8cm (3.5”), 922k-dot touch-screen LCD panel also provide direct access to a selection of additional functions, including Face-Only AF, Backlight Correction and Priority WB modes. A 0.61cm (0.24”) Colour Viewfinder provides 100% coverage, offering added convenience for those who predominantly shoot outdoors, or in low-lit indoor environments. Double Slot and Relay Recording are supported, allowing users to record movie to both SDXC memory cards at the same time, or switch recording from the 32GB internal memory to one card and then to the next. Video clips can also be copied from one card to another post-shoot for added flexibility.

Canon Legria HF-G10 video sharing
Sharing the footage shot on the Canon Legria HF G10 has never been easier. In-camcorder down-conversion from HD to SD is supported, preparing the movies for upload to online video sharing sites, either via a PC with Canon’s Easy Web Upload software or direct from the camera using an Eye-Fi wireless card. The Canon Legria HF G10 is available from early April 2011.